Puyallup man sentenced in case related to Grant County

PUYALLUP  A man connected with a child rape case in Warden was sentenced today after previously pleading guilty to receipt of child pornography.

Robert John Kearns, 54, was sentenced to five years imprisonment, and a lifetime of court supervision by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Edward F. Shea. Kearns also has to register as a sex offender.

Kearns pleaded guilty to the charge in November following an FBI and Grant County Sheriff's Office investigation.

According to court records, Kearn received pornographic images of children from Pamela Ortega of Warden. A search warrant executed April 14, 2011, located the images on Kearns' laptop.

Kearns came under investigation in a case involving Ortega, who pleaded guilty to three counts of rape of a minor and was sentenced to four concurrent terms of 25 years in prison for using her children to produce the images, court records show.

Kearns had apparently requested the images from Ortega, who in turn sent them, records show.

The case was prosecuted by Stephanie J. Lister, an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.

In Ortega's case, a Grant County court records show the mother raped her children and broadcast the acts online.

Investigators determined she had sexually abused her then 8-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son while Internet users watched, records show, noting she also molested a 2-week-old infant in her care and broadcast the act live over the internet.

Court records also show Ortega was trying to sell sex with her children to men she met online.